Raymond Felton Unhappy With Getting Benched

The Nate McMillan/Raymond Felton relationship, already on less-than-solid footing, took another turn for the worse when it was revealed that Felton would no longer be the starting point guard. From CSNNW: “The Oregonian reported that the Portland Trail Blazers are making a change at the point guard position, inserting Jamal Crawford in place of Raymond Felton and the former starting guard says he was completely caught off guard. Felton spoke about Nate McMillan’s decision to bench him a day after the team suffered an embarrassing franchise-low 7-point opening quarter; they eventually lost to the Los Angeles Lakers 103-92. ‘He (Nate McMillan) called me this morning and told me we got to have consistency from that position and that a 7-point quarter was unacceptable,’ Felton said. ‘I’m not just going to blame myself for that first quarter. We’re a team. We win together, we lose together.’ [Monday] night, Felton didn’t play the entire fourth quarter and was out for most of the third quarter while Crawford soaked up the majority of the second half minutes. After the game, McMillan said he just wanted to go in a different direction. Felton hit the Trail Blazers first basket of the game and was 3-for-4 with 9 points, 4 assist, and he committed 4 turnovers. He said since the meeting that he and McMillan had last week, he felt he was doing his job adequately. ‘I felt like after the meeting, I did all that I was asked to do,’ Felton explained. ‘It’s only been two games since then. It’s his decision and I’ll be the ultimate teammate throughout this process.’”